GC UNIVERSITY LAHORE AWARDS PHD IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
The GC University Lahore has awarded a PhD in the subject
of Clinical Psychology to Ms. Sadia Saleem after the
approval of her research thesis entitled “Prevalence of
Emotional and Behavioral Problems and their Relationship
with School Performance and Self-esteem in Children of
Class 8-10”. Her thesis was supervised by Dr. Zahid
Mahmud, Head of Department of Clinical Psychology GCU
Lahore.
(19-12-2011)

Rescue 1122 engages GCU expertise
The Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) has engaged
the expertise of GC University Lahore clinical
psychologists to work on post-traumatic stress among
rescue workers, and develop modern psychological test
system for selection of right people in the life saving
emergency services. GCU Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Khalid
Aftab and Rescue 1122 Director General Dr. Rizwan Naseer
signed the agreement carried out between the GCU
Department of Clinical Psychology and the Punjab
Emergency Service. Department of Clinical Psychology
Director Prof. Zahid Mehmood was also present. “Rescue
workers are daily exposed to traumatic stress while
helping people in emergency. Dealing with situations
like terrorism, fire, car accidents and rape develop
traumatic stress disorder in workers which reduces their
efficiency and commitment,” said 1122 Director General
while requesting the clinical psychologists of the
university to help the Punjab Emergency Service in
coping with the situation.
The GCU and Rescue 1122 have also pledged to work for
development of safer communities in Pakistan through
research projects and joint practical initiatives
including conferences, workshops, awareness and training
programmes and seminars. Both the intuitions have also
pledged to share resources, knowledge and expertise for
caring out the above mention joint projects. They would
also conduct behaviour studies of communities to prevent
road traffic accidents and injuries.
However, GCU Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr Khalid Aftab said
that the university professors and researchers should
also work with the emergency service officials to manage
post-traumatic stress among public after emergency or
disaster. The vice chancellor and Rescue 1122 officials
appreciated that Clinical Psychology Department have
already successfully developed psychological tests for
the Pakistan Air Force and these days it was working
with the PAF on stress management in pilots. They hoped
that the new psychological test system developed by the
GCU for Rescue 1122 would help in selection of right
people in the life saving emergency services and would
reduce the drop-out percentage of rescue workers.
Director Planning and External Links GCU Ms Fauzia
Shaheen told the meeting that under the agreement, the
Rescue 1122 would also provide internship and research
opportunities for students of GCU. She said all the
Rescue 1122 data of accidents, fire incidents; crime and
prank calls would also be available to GCU students for
research. The meeting also discussed in detail the
fallouts of recent incident of “street justice” in
Sialkot and termed the situation “alarming.” The GCU and
Rescue 1122 also planned to hold a seminar in the
university on the issue of “street justice.”
(04-10-2010)

GCU ORGANIZES WORKSHOP FOR AUTISTIC CHILDREN
The Alumni Society of Clinical Psychology
Department GC University Lahore organized a training
workshop on “Picture Exchange Communication System
(PECS)”, a highly effective method of non-verbal
communication with Autistic children who have delays in
speech development. The clinical psychologists and
professionals from various parts of Punjab attended the
workshop.
Addressing the workshop attendee,
resource person Sajjad Ahmad said that PECS used
pictures instead of words to help children and had
proved to be very useful in clinics and schools. He said
a child could be trained in PECS by a parent, caregiver,
or therapist who had learned the method. In the early
phases of PECS training, the child chooses a picture of
a desired food, and receives the food in exchange for
the picture. Getting the food was the positive
reinforcement for using the picture to communicate. He
said that as the child begins to understand the
usefulness of communication, the hope is that he would
then begin to use natural speech.
(03-06-2010)

Annual Report on Campus
Counseling Services (CCS) July2008-June 2009
Background:
The history of GCU campus counselling
service goes back a long way. However, the
reorganization of the service along professional lines
started in 2006 when it formally became a part of the
Department of Clinical Psychology. In 2007 a qualified
clinical psychologist from GCU clinical training
programme was appointed as the Campus Counsellor, with a
remit to develop a comprehensive counselling service for
the students of the University. Working under the
administrative and professional supervision of the Head
of the Department of Clinical Psychology, GC University,
the foundation of a service was laid along professional
lines. In 2008 the services were located in the newly
built Student Counselling Centre.
It took a few months to complete the
spade work for the service. Information leaflets were
prepared and distributed throughout the University to
publicize the new locale and the operation policy. A
generic brochure along with the service development
plan, information leaflets for the students on common
problem faced were prepared. Guidance and information
material was prepared on study skills and strategies,
time management, improving concentration, self
motivation, presentation skills, dealing with exam
anxiety, problem solving, decision making managing moods
and this is an on going process.
The Mission Statement:
Our aim is to provide a readily
accessible campus counselling service to all students of
GC University with emotional, psychological and
behavioural, social and academic problems and help them
improve their level of functioning in all areas with
proven techniques and skills.
The service:
The Campus counselling service is
essentially a self-referral service open to all
students of GCU. In addition, any one from the teaching
staff or the medical staff can refer with the student’s
consent. It is important that the student should contact
the counselor directly for appointment.
At the initial assessment meeting every
student is interviewed and asked to fill in a generic
Problems Checklist developed for the Service by the
Department of Clinical Psychology. The students may be
asked to fill in other questionnaires if necessary for
assessment. At this point a decision is made whether a
particular student needs individual and /or group
counselling. Individual session can start immediately
which lasts about 60 minutes, and is followed by
revision and documentation process which takes half an
hour at least. Individual sessions are continued on
weekly basis and normally 6-8 sessions are offered to
each client. A thorough and regular record keeping is
maintained on every student and all data are collated
and a monthly report is submitted to the Head of the
Department of Clinical Psychology for scrutiny.
Counselling approaches used are focal,
short term and active. The techniques used in the
service have efficacy demonstrated by research.
Cognitive behavioural techniques along with social
skills learning in a crisis intervention mould have been
found to be very effective.
To-date 120 students have been seen on
individual basis altogether for 950 sessions.
Group Counseling
Group counseling is not only a more
efficient way of meeting the ever-growing demand for
counselling it is also more effective and more
appropriate with a number of problems. The most common
of theses are Class Presentations, Exam Anxiety, Time
Management and Effective Study Skills. The group
counselling sessions planned on monthly basis and the
schedule is publicized well in advance and students are
invited to register for the group of their choice. A
typical group consists of 8-10 students with similar
problems briefed and assessed at the start of the group
session and it may last. A group session lasts for two
hours, group preparation takes 4-5 hours and evaluation
of the outcomes requires three hours. All formats and
the contents of the group counselling session are
planned and discussed with the Supervisor.
To date 40 groups have been held
totally attendance of 150 students.
Service monitoring:
The service is regularly monitored for
efficiency and effectiveness. Record keeping and monthly
reports are prepared and presented to the Supervisor. A
Service Evaluation Form is already in use for the
student as the pre and post assessment of the problem is
used with every client that also includes service
satisfaction. The active feed back system has been
incorporated with the service.
Supervision:
The professional quality and service
efficacy are regularly and supervised by Dr Zahid
Mahmood. Cases are discussed and data are collated and
checked on monthly basis.
Teaching and Training:
The success of the service can be gauged
by the fact the Campus Counselling Services has been
incorporated into the M S in Clinical Psychology
training programme. The service has generated a lot of
interest in the trainee clinical psychologists and this
year they have been offered Campus Counselling as an
option in the course. Six trainees opted for placement
in the Campus Counselling Service for a Semester. They
were given lectures and workshops by the Campus
Counselor and a Clinical Psychologist and both organized
all the clinical work and supervised case management. If
this facility is repeated every year it will expand the
scope the service.
The Future:
It seems that as the service and it
contribution is getting better known among the students
and staff, the number of clients is increasing and we
may have to plan for a wider range of services. The list
of issues and problems for which students are seeking
help is lengthening.
For the details of the related documents
please see the Appendices.